Sometimes their translation actually comes across as more accurate than the original English term and conveys the real meaning behind a word.

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The good

Selfies = Ego-portrait

Ego-portrait—can it be even better? Epic win for Quebeckers!

to unfriend = amiradier

The verb “radier” in French means to ‘strike off / cross-off’. It sounds like “get-off of my list” in French. Very funny, no ? (yeah, I don’t have a life).

The bad

But sometimes the translation of English terms misses the mark (in my opinion).

OQFL is not the only one trying to come-up with a French alternative for English terms, L’académie française is involved too. Unfortunately, the institutes cannot come up with creative ideas every time and often just translate the word directly without undue consideration, often resulting in words that sound a bit weird.

I’m referring to words like gazouillis = tweet or mot-dièse = hash-tag, which do not sound right in French. Indeed, I am not sure if these two words would be considered acceptable by a French native speaker.

The ugly

However, sometimes we have no choice other than to translate some English words. If we do not do it, it can be very awkward. “Pinner”, such as (to pin) would be a big no-no. « Pinner » has a sexual meaning in French (pinner = to fxxx). So we have to use the French alternative “épingler”.

But enough of this short introduction to the complexities of translating today’s fashionable jargon, let’s learn some new French words related to social media.

Note: (CA)= Words use in Canada not in France.

Abonnée

Subscriptions

abonnement (n.m.)

subscription

Actualisation de statut

Status Update

Ajouter

Add

ajouter à sa liste d’ami(e)s un(e) ami(e)

to “friend”

ajouter ami ( e ) (fb terms)

Add Friend

amiradier; désamicaliser; décopiner (CA)

unfriend

amis en commun

Mutual Friends

annuaire (n.m.); répertoire (n.m.)

directory

application mobile (n.f.); appli mobile (n.f.)

mobile application; mobile app

bloquer

Block

clavardage (n.m.) (CA) / chatter

chatting

commentaire

Comment

compte Facebook

Facebook account

confidentialité

Privacy

connecté

Connected

connexion

Log in

contenu (n.m.)

content (n.)

contributeur (n.m.), contributrice (n.f.)

contributor

copier coller

to copy and past

créer

Create

de pointe

state of the art

Déconnecté

Disconnected

Déconnexion

Log out

Demandes d’ajout à la liste d’amis

Friend Requests

démodé

outdated

devenir viral

go viral

disponible

available, free, flexible

égo-portraits (CA)

selfies

en temps réel

real time (adj.)

envoyer un message

to send a message

Envoyer un Poke à…

To Poke

épingler ("pinner" has a different meaning in French)

pin

être connecté

to be online

être en évolution constante/ permanente

to be changing all the time

Exprimez-vous (“Express yourself”) (FB)

What’s in your mind?

faire face à

to confront, face up to

faire gagner du temps

to save time

faire parler de soi

to get onesself talked about

FAQ (n.f.); foire aux questions (n.f.)

frequently asked questions; FAQ

fermer (une) session

to logout

fil (n.m.); fil de discussion (n.m.)

discussion thread; thread (n)

flux d’activités (n.m.)

activity stream

foodographie

food porn

fouiner

creep

gazouillage (n.m.) (CA); tweetage (n.m.)

tweeting

gazouiller (CA); tweeter

tweet 2

gazouillis (CA.); tweet (n.m.)

tweet 1

Groupes

Groups

historique personnel (n.m.)

activity log

Identification

Tag

Identifier une photo

To tag a picture

J'aime

Like

Je n’aime plus

Unlike

la chance

oppurtunity

la compétence en informatique

computer literacy

la couverture médiatique

media coverage

la disponibilité

flexibility, availability

la messagerie

computerised mail

la page d'accueil

homepage

la toile / le web

the Web

la vie privée des personalités

private lives of celebrities

l'achat en ligne

online shopping

l'appartenance

belonging, being a member of

le bloggeur

blogger

le fichier

file

le fournisseur d'accès

service provider

le mel, le mél

email

le mot de passe

password

le moteur de recherche

search engine

le piratage

illegal downloading

le pirate informatique

hacker

le réseau

network

le vecteur d'information

vehicle for information

l'ère informatique (f)

information age

les amateurs de bonne cuisine/ foodies

foodies

les données (f)

data

les ragots, les potins

gossip

l'essor

growth

l'internaute (m)

web user, surfer

médias sociaux (n.m.)

social media

Membres

Members

Mot de passe

Password

Mot-dièse

Hash-tag

Mur

Wall

navigeur, surfer

to browse, surf

ne plus suivre

unfollow

Nom d’utilisateur

Username

Nom du groupe

Group Name

nouveau (nouvelle)

new

partager

to share

Photos de profil

Profile Pictures

poster quelquechose sur le mur de quelqu’un

to post something on somebody’s wall

Publier

Publish

Rechercher des amis

Find Friends

rechercher la gloire

to seek fame

rédiger

to compose (post)

Rédiger un commentaire

Add a description

réépingler

repin

répondre au courrier

to reply to emails

réseau social

social network

réseautage social (barely use)

social networking

Retirer de la liste d’amis

Unfriend

retweet (n.m.); gazouillis partagé (CA)

retweet; RT

retweeter

to retweet

reviné

revined

s’abonner

subscribe

s'abonner

to subscribe

Sans filtre (instagram)

NoFilter

sauvegarder

to save

se connecter

to login

s'identifier

to login

Signaler/bloquer

Report/Block

simplifier la vie

to make life easier

s'inscrire

to sign up, to register

Suggérer des amis

Suggest friends

suivre le mouvement

to jump on the bandwagon

suivre

to follow

Supprimer

Remove

taguer quelqu’un sur une photo

to tag somebody in a photo

tenir au courant

to keep informed

un abonné, une abonnée (for twitter/instagram...)

a follower

un blog

a blog

un commentaire

a comment

un compte

account, username

un contact

a contact

un fil d’alimentation en nouvelles RSS

an RSS feed

un fil de discussion

a discussion thread

un forum

a forum

un hashtag

a hashtag (keyword for searching, following a conversation or marking a topic)

un lecteur

a reader

un lien permanent

a permalink

un mot de passe

password

un news feed, une alimentation en nouvelles (quebec), un flux

a news feed

un profil

profile

un réseau social

social network

un suiveur, une suiveuse (CA)

a follower

un sujet tendance

a trending topic

un tableau de bord

a dashboard

un utilisateur

user

un(e) abonné(e)

a subscriber

une communauté

community

une mise à jour du statut

a status update

une photo du profil

a profile photo

utiliser à des fins mercantiles

to make use of for a profit

Voir les liens d’amitié

See Friendship

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Frederic Bibard is the founder of Talk in French, a company that helps french learners to practice and improve their french. Macaron addict. Jacques Audiard fan. You can contact him on Twitter and Google +